King Jesus - Our Mission Is His Mission (Mark 6:1-13)

But what's interesting in this passage is that Jesus doesn't pander. He doesn't wring his hands and worry like, oh, how am I gonna save my hometown and and camp out there for a little bit? He moves on. Like, he says, I've got I've got other things to do. I've got bigger fish to fry. We can't we're not gonna stick around here. We're we're going. The mission is too important. We can't slow down here. We're we're moving on. [00:22:05] (27 seconds)  #MissionFirst

And, specifically, it says that they they took offense at him. The word behind that is where we get our word scandal. They were scandalized by Jesus. Eight times this word is used throughout the book of Mark, and each time denotes a crisis of faith. And in this moment, these people are stumbling, is another way of putting this, not just offense. They are stumbling over his message. And as a result, they are not gonna be able to move forward with faith. [00:17:42] (32 seconds)  #FaithScandal

And there's a sense in which each of us are apostolic to the sense at which we are all sent by God to carry his message forward. Now are there other meanings to that word and everything else? Absolutely. But this is the most basic of them. And we see the authority with which the 12 went out. He gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He gives them his own authority, and then he tells them, hey. I don't want you taking anything but a staff and sandals. [00:24:36] (27 seconds)  #SentAndAuthorized

And this is something we would think that Jesus would just do. But in fact, when we look throughout scripture, there are multiple times when Jesus after he heals someone, he says, your faith has healed you. Go and sin no more. Your faith has made you well. And there's this interesting back and forth here that seems to indicate that oftentimes, God's power can only occur in our willingness to receive it and and accept it. [00:18:55] (26 seconds)  #FaithReceivesHealing

And that's hard for us to wrap our minds around, but it it it carries this idea that God will not God will not the the churchy way of saying is that God will not abide with man forever. He he will not continually present opportunities for repentance or for us, you know, coming back into a right relationship with him. And he's patient with us as believers. He knows our heart and where we've been and and how difficult it is for us to follow him, but it also helps us understand a little bit that the mission that God has given us sometimes requires moving on. [00:22:53] (33 seconds)  #GodsPatientNotPassive

there's probably some who are who are there and like, I remember watching you as a child play in my front yard. And and this familiarity that they have with them is causing and this is kind of the threat for them in in becoming a part of the mission of Jesus, and that and that is that they have become familiar with the extraordinary. You know, they are no longer able to recognize the authority of the one to whom is speaking to them. [00:15:37] (26 seconds)  #FamiliarityBreedsBlindness

Like, yes, that one. Like, that is the the the mission of God's kingdom takes a variety of forms, and it's oftentimes boiled down to love. But what is love? That's certainly something that gets defined differently all the time. Love is defined by Jesus offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Greater love has nothing more than this than one lay down his life for a friend. And so I wanna challenge you as as we kinda bring things to a close here this morning. What's your mission? What do you feel like God's called you to? Are you doing your own thing? Are you trying to figure things out on your own? [00:37:52] (45 seconds)  #LoveIsMission

I mean, he knew how to relate. He knew what it meant to work. He his hands were rough, but his heart was tender. And so we see this this picture of a of a god that works with his hands, who's not afraid to roll up his sleeves and and and get them dirty. And but this is something that they that they're stumbling over. Maybe you've heard the phrase familiarity breeds contempt. [00:14:40] (32 seconds)  #TravelLightMission